THE SNP has united with five other UK parties to exert fresh pressure on Boris Johnson over planned Tory cuts to Universal Credit payments.
Ian Blackford’s party is leading a cross-party push with the Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Social Democratic Labour Party, Green Party, and Alliance Party to call for the PM to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent, and extend it to legacy benefits as the economic crisis continues.
The uplift was brought in to help low-income families bear the extra cost of the Covid-19 outbreak and is set to end in April.
But a joint letter sent by party leaders ahead of this month’s UK Spending Review and just one month before Christmas states: “Prime Minister, time is fast running out and these struggling families – through no fault of their own – face further hardship if your government fails to do the right thing.”
READ MORE: Ian Blackford urges Boris Johnson to fix gaps in Universal Credit scheme
This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed UK unemployment has risen to 4.8%, with 782,000 fewer people in employment since March, and the number of redundancies at a record high of 314,000 – a record increase of 181,000 on the quarter.
Blackford MP said: “The UK is in the grip of a growing Tory unemployment crisis – with record redundancies, nearly 800,000 fewer people in employment, and millions of households seeing their incomes slashed.
“It is crucial that Boris Johnson performs an urgent U-turn on the Tory government’s planned cuts to Universal Credit, makes the £20 uplift permanent and extends it to legacy benefits – as part of a wider package of measures to put money in people’s pockets.
“The UK Spending Review must include meaningful investment to boost household incomes, which have been hit hard by a decade of Tory cuts. There must be no return to austerity – especially when we know extreme Tory Brexit plans will already make the whole country poorer.
“Tory cuts and delays have caused thousands of unnecessary redundancies, and left many people struggling to get by – including the three million who have been completely excluded from support.
“There must be urgent support for these forgotten millions who have been left behind.”
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